Buca di Beppo Restaurant Review

: At Buca, you’ll feast on southern Italian cooking like spaghetti marinara, fettuccine Alfredo and pizza---all served family-style and in huge portions. Even the "small" sizes of menu items serve two or three, ostensibly in hopes of luring couples into this madcap, group-oriented dining experience. Just make sure your date is up for a party vibe: this place is more about zany, old school fun than romance and gourmet cuisine. Frank Sinatra plays over the sound system, black-and-white photos of JFK adorn the walls and the tables are all covered with red-and-white checked tablecloths. At its worst, Buca feels like a theme park Italian restaurant you might find at Epcot Center; at its best, you are swept away by its goofy exuberance. We recommend the chicken Marsala with its wine-sweetened mushrooms, tender chicken and garlic mashed potatoes. Or sample the pastas—--we’re partial to the chicken cannelloni and the baked manicotti---both perfect for warding off the infamous Minnesota chill. Tiramisu gets decent marks for its liberal dose of espresso and dark rum; like everything else, it’s served in a portion large enough to impress even a diehard dessert connoisseur.